Photo Credit: STARDOM
By: Noah Leatherland
After weeks of competition, the STARDOM 5★STAR GP culminated in the Ryogoku Kokugikan. Of the four women that entered the final day in contention, Rina rose above the rest to win the whole thing, becoming the youngest to ever do so.
The event began with the final match in the Blue Stars final, with that half of the bracket coming down the World of Stardom Champion, Suzu Suzuki and Starlight Kid. After going undefeated in the block, Suzuki’s perfect record was broken by Kid. Kid landed the Kokko Kyakusatsu on the world champion, pinning her to advance to the final as the Blue Stars winner.
Then, onto the Red Stars, with Rina coming up against Maika. Despite the size and power difference, Rina came out on top. She put Maika away with the Hydrangea, gaining the win and moving onto the final as the Red Stars rep.
Rina and Kid had the duration of the rest of the card to recover and prepare for the final at the end of the night. For nearly 30 minutes, the two duked it out, both women looking to end their summer on the highest possible note. Finally, it was Rina that claimed victory, hitting Kid with the Pink Devil to get the pinfall. With that, Rina has become the youngest ever winner of the STARDOM 5★STAR GP at just 19 years old.
As Rina celebrated, decked out in the winning royal garb of the a cape and crown, she took the microphone to address the Ryogoku crowd:
I’m 19—the youngest champion in history! Right now, I’m only thinking about winning 5★STAR, so I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m going to do things that’ll shock you and make your eyes pop out, so don’t take your eyes off me! … It’s not just Kamitani. I’m going to make STARDOM the number one promotion in the world, too, so keep following me and STARDOM from now on!
While her comments on the microphone were fairly brief, Rina went into greater detail on her win, her emotions, and her place in the STARDOM landscape in her backstage comments:
I won the 5★STAR! And I’m the youngest winner ever. Finally, finally. Some people will say I’m too young, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s about time. I’ve been missing the top spot for so long, finally winning this 5★STAR—the biggest and most valuable title—feels like I’ve finally claimed it. If anyone has a problem with that, I’ll shut them all up with what I do from here on out. As I said on the mic, I staked everything on this 5★STAR win. As for what I want next or what I want to challenge—well, to be honest, I think that line of thinking is ridiculous to begin with. 5★STAR, where every champion and top contender competes—isn’t that the most valuable title of all? That’s why I feel I can say whatever I want from now on. There are still so many titles to win, and I plan to keep taking them one after another.
My opponent in the final was Kid. We joined the company at the same time—we were both part of the 7th intake. Back when we were in the Oedo Tai together, when no one was even paying attention to me, Kid was the only one who mentioned my name as a wrestler to watch in the future. It might sound weird coming from me now—since I don’t really like this kind of thing—but the fact that my opponent in the final was Kid is actually quite moving to me; I’m glad it turned out that way.
To all you girls sitting back and resting on your laurels, thinking you’re at the top of Stardom right now: this is reality. A 19-year-old won the championship. That’s all there is to it. I’m going to keep putting on exciting shows from here on out, so you better look forward to it.
While the STARDOM 5★STAR GP was the main focus of the night, there were other noteworthy developments across the night.
Natsuko Tora has emerged as the next challenger to Suzu Suzuki and the World of Stardom title, bringing up the promise Suzuki had made to defend the belt against her back in May. The match is set to take place on September 12 at STARDOM TO THE WORLD in the Yokohama Budokan.
Aya Sakura and Sayaka Kurara were set to defend the NEW BLOOD Tag Team titles, but the challenging Rian needed to pull out of the event. So, she was replaced by Ranna Yagami, returning from her US excursion to team with Kikyo Furusawa. Yagami led her team to victory, pinning Sakura off the Beet Buster. Yagami was then confronted by Akira Kurogane, who challenged her for the Future of Stardom Championship.
In a special tag team bout, Saya Kamitani and Momo Watanabe defeated Hanan and Saya Iida. The H.A.T.E. duo then challenged 02line for the Goddesses of Stardom Championships, with the match being made for STARDOM TO THE WORLD.
In the semi-main event, Natsupoi emerged victorious in the special singles bout against her close friend, Saori Anou. She took a page out of her husband’s playbook to earn the victory, hitting Anou with the Made in Ja-Poi. In her post-match comments, Natsupoi’s emotions came spilling out:
It’s over. I guess, just as there’s a beginning, there’s always an end. I’m kind of at a loss for words. It’s so hard to put all these overwhelming feelings into words, and I’m feeling pretty confused right now. It was my decision, but… I didn’t want this battle to end. I even found myself thinking, “I wish this could go on forever.” But, just like Saori said, I’m stubborn, so my decision won’t change. Still, for the remaining four and a half months, I’ll have Saori right by my side the whole time, and even after I retire, I’ll always be there for Saori. No matter what happens, I’ll always be on your side. Keep pushing forward. I’m not crying. I’m not crying. Saori, thank you! Let’s keep it up from here on out! Bye-poi!
(Quotes translated via DeepL)
Here are the full results for the STARDOM 5★STAR GP Final, courtesy of purolove.com:
Date:
August 24, 2026
Category:
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